School Board to Meet to Decide on Strapless Dress Ban

A school board in New Jersey has scheduled a special meeting to review a dress code that bans girls from wearing strapless dresses to an eighth-grade dance off school grounds.

The board on Wednesday night says it will respond to an appeal by parents of the Readington Middle School students after the board meets behind closed doors.

Some parents criticized principal Sharon Moffat when she prohibited the dresses for a June dance because she said they distract boys. Some parents said such a statement was sexist while others said they had already purchased their daughters' dresses.

Many parents said it's up to them, not the principal, to determine what their children wear.

Meanwhile, the district canceled a dance last Friday after it said a threat was made against the principal “from overseas” that was not considered credible.

Last month, mother Charlotte Nijenhuis told the Courier News of Bridgewater she spoke to Moffat, who told her such dresses distract boys.

Nijenhuis says it's neither a woman's nor a girl's responsibility to control a man's or boy's behavior.

Melissa May says she would not allow her daughter to wear something that she felt was inappropriate.

“As parents, we should have the ability to say what our children wear,” May told the paper.

Copyright AP - Associated Press
Contact Us